LARPing Album
As the academic year draws to a close and our young musicians skip gleefully out to summer pasture (read: homework avoidance, nocturnal tendencies, stupidly-coloured hair) the ‘Musical Affinity and Beyond’ team have something super special to be proud of.
As the academic year draws to a close and our young musicians skip gleefully out to summer pasture (read: homework avoidance, nocturnal tendencies, stupidly-coloured hair) the ‘Musical Affinity and Beyond’ team have something super special to be proud of.
The group have been working with musician facilitators Laura Emerson and Jack Burton (https://soundcloud.com/dark-side-of-the-room) to develop, write, and record a concept album based on LARPing.
For those of you who don’t know, LARP stands for Live Action Role Play. Still clueless? The Urban Diction states that LARPing is –
‘a type of game where a group of people wear costumes representing a character they create to participate in an agreed fantasy world. Uses foam sticks as swords, foam balls as magic and other props to create the games world.’
We thought that sounded like a hoot-and-a-half so we decided to run with it. Over the course of the development sessions we investigated the culture of LARP, learned the rules of engagement, tried a few out, and really got to grips with the subject matter in hand. Often the ‘matter in hand’ was a broadsword made out of foam and duct tape. Hoot-and-a-half, remember?
Once at the heart of LARP the young musicians discovered that it was about imagination, escapism, identity, and being able to be downright epic despite the pressures and expectations of real life. This is sort of the reasoning behind music-making too, right? And the game was on…
The group explored genre and musical theory in the quest to construct the finished album. The 5 completed songs include classical arrangements, Gregorian chant, electronica, brass bands, heavy metal, and good old Country and Western. They explore the universal challenges of character creation, costume design, weapon construction, and attempt to answer the age-old question – who broke more hearts, George R. R. Martin or J.K. Rowling?
The tracks are currently in post-production and will be ready for release on soundcloud in September. Until then, here’s a lyrical taste of what’s in store –
V1
G
We are fantasy.
D G
What’s that you ask? Well listen to me.
G
Have you ever read a book by J.K. Rowling?
D C
J.R.R. Tolkien? George R. R. R. R. R. Martin?
G
Or C.S. Lewis? They were the coolest!
D G
They made these worlds and we are their rulers!
G
La la la la SWORDS! La la la la DRAGONS!
D G
Warriors and magical things.
CHORUS
C
We love to LARP, love to fight,
G
Love to play strategically,
Weapons, dice, costumes, cards,
C
Always striving for XP,
Come with me, join our team,
D
And very soon you’ll level up… and up…
D C B D
To kill the newbies
V2
Steampunk LARP is really great.
Mix Technology and History then speculate,
Dystopian futures and things from the past,
Smoosh them together, it’s really really really class!
Airships and square ships, Oil lamps and G-clamps,
Things made of brass, fossil fuels seem to last,
Zeppelin’s dribblin’ petrol in ships of tin,
Leather, top hats, corsetry, and lace.
V3
Sci-Fi LARP is really ace,
Travel through the galaxy to outer space!
Light saber, laser, phaser, set to stun,
Death ray, DEATH STAR, f f f f freezer gun.
Star War-ing, Star Trekking, futuristic bio-teching,
Jumpsuits and space boots, escape pods, evac chutes,
Uniforms, strange life forms, navigating cosmic storms,
And everybody has a robot friend.